Roma, the eternal city

I have to say, this trip is in fact starting to feel a bit like eternity. I have now reached that point of a vacation where laziness starts to feel like an oily film that coats everything I do. I find myself getting up reasonably early and going for long walks and bus rides around the city. It's really great even as a Roman discovering places that anywhere else in the world would become major attractions, and here they are just parts of the city.

Yesterday, for instance, I walked by a place not far from the Termini train station, a fenced-in square that included a large building with the words "Rome Aquarium - 1885", facing a small park with some Roman ruins. I had never heard of an aquarium, so I ambled in and was greeted by a most friendly doorman who proceeded to show me around and told me about the history of this building, which until 10-15 years ago was in disrepair and was being used as storage, and now is a national monument, housing some sort of architectural society. The ruins outside? One old wall forms part of the Roman wall in the 7th century B.C., the rest of the ruins are much newer, dating somewhere around the first century B.C.

This morning I went for another long walk, actually started with a bus ride to the train station, then walked around a couple of neighborhoods and ended up walking around the Colosseum, then back to Piazza Venezia and back home to meet with Elena (who by then had been up for a half hour). As much as the heart of historic Rome is very touristy, and as much as I have seen it dozens of times, it is still an amazing place. The stretch from the Colosseum, along the various Fora and on to Piazza Venezia is truly amazing. And every time they try to build something, they dig up more ruins. What a beautiful city!

A Christmas shout-out to Pietro

Merry Christmas, everyone! It's just past 9am and everyone is still sleeping. I just got up and wanted to send a shout-out to Pietro, who was supposed to be here, but because of flight cancellations in London was not able to make it. We are all really sorry to be missing you here! Many thanks to Karen for being an awesome mom and finding some good "consolation prizes."

Roma: Public health care, traffic and noise

Yesterday I was feeling somewhat better so Elena and I hopped on a bus downtown and walked around for a few hours, grabbing a "proper" pizza in Trastevere. The weather was surprisingly nice as a warm, southern wind had blown into town. When we got back in the late afternoon my parents insisted that I go see a doctor, since my cough is still not great. So my dad and I walked about a quarter mile away to their doctor's office, which is inside a regular residential building.

The doctor checked out my lungs, said I seem not to have any pneumonia or bad bronchitis, but with the holidays coming up he prescribed some antibiotics "just in case." Before the visit started my father had explained that I am not a resident of Italy and thus have no health insurance. At the end of the visit, my father offered to pay for the visit, but the doctor said "don't worry about it, it's Christmas" and gave us the prescription in my dad's name. At the pharmacy we were given the choice of buying the branded version suggested by the doctor for a whopping €1.09, or the generic version for free. We splurged on the branded version. The comparison to our own health care system is stunning.

On the down side, Rome is riddled with traffic, and there is a ton of noise, at least in some parts (such as my parents' apartment). The bus back from downtown took an hour, a ride that normally takes at most half an hour. This is probably due to Christmas shopping, but traffic in general is pretty horrible around here -- though fortunately public transport is great. And I brought plenty of earplugs to combat the noise when I am sleeping...

Traveling through Tuscany

After spending the night in Lucca we walked around town for a couple of hours -- Lucca is one of my favorite towns, and if it didn't happen to be so close to Pisa and Florence, it would probably have a lot more tourists. The city, surrounded by ramparts, has a wonderful collection of old buildings, towers, churches and other great sights. Even in the rain, it was quite enjoyable.

After grabbing a couple of sandwiches for the road, we drove on through the hills of Tuscany toward Volterra. Along the way, we spotted some great sights, including a spectacular ancient tower atop a large rock. Anyhow, I thought Volterra was mostly unknown to American tourists, but Elena informed me that it gained significant notoriety through the movie/book "Twilight." The town is nestled atop a fairly high hill, with commanding and breathtaking views over the Tuscan landscape. We walked around Volterra for a couple of hours, but the shops were closed (lunch break) and the town is not so large, so we headed over to Siena.

Siena is also a beautiful city, most famous for the "Palio," a horse race pitting the best representatives from each section of town, which takes place in Piazza del Campo, a large square that is unique because of its shape, and because it slopes down to one side, a bit like an amphitheater. The shopping in Siena is also pretty amazing, though we showed significant restraint.

After a few hours in Siena we took off for Rome, and arrive there around 8:30pm. My beloved Rome! Chaos, traffic, noise, ... and yet, whenever I arrive, I feel so at home it is uncanny. Elena, having lived here for almost a full year back in 2008-2009, also feels the same way. My flu had gotten worse, and after a quick dinner I took my temperature -- a whopping 102.4. My lungs also felt like absolute shit each time I coughed. I am hoping it's not a relapse of the pneumonia I had a couple years ago. This morning I feel much better, but I will probably go see a doctor this afternoon nonetheless. For now, Elena and I are taking advantage of semi-decent weather to go for a stroll downtown.

Driving through Italy in the rain

After a couple days of visiting relatives, Elena and I left Milano yesterday morning, with the goal of meandering at a leisurely pace down to Rome. The weather has been pretty crappy, it rained most of the time. We drove down to Parma, then headed west toward La Spezia but left the main highway and wound our way through a road that follows what used to be the Roman "Via Aurelia."

At one point we saw a sign for an archeological site that I'd never heard of, called "Luni" or "Luna." Luna is the word for "moon," and in fact this is the site of a town that was dedicated to the Roman God "Selene." The site is not exactly overwhelming, the highlights being the ruins of an amphitheater dating I believe to the 5th or 6th century, as well as some floor mosaics.

We then drove down to Lucca, a lovely Tuscan town that is less well known only because it happens to be very close to Pisa and Florence. We found a small but nice hotel, then had a great dinner at a local restaurant, marred only by the fact that I feel like crap with a bad cough and sore throat (it had to happen sooner or later). Also, it's been raining steadily, which takes a bit of the fun out of it, but Elena and I are having a great time. Today we plan to explore a few Tuscan towns on the way to Rome.

From Moroccan poverty to Milanese opulence

Yesterday afternoon Elena and I went to downtown Milano. This time of year things are bustling in what is one of the most amazing shopping areas in the world. I was surprised by my own reaction to the stark contrast between the poverty and simplicity I had seen in Morocco. It's a long, long way from Milano's Galleria to Morocco's Medinas. We paid 5EUR for a small paper cone of roasted chestnuts, similar in size to the paper cones of roasted nuts I could by in Morocco for 2Dhr (less than 0.2EUR). It was hard for me to stop thinking about the people with whom I had just spent over a week, for whom a single item from a typical shop window could have fed a family for a month.

Nonetheless, Milan's main shopping area is quite spectacular. It was nice being outside, especially since we were both wiped out tired. The combination of sleep deprivation and massive overeating was taking a toll on us, and the freezing air was a welcome change.

Later last night and pretty much all of today we spent our time visiting various relatives. It's been nice seeing cousins, uncles and aunts. Tomorrow morning we are off, driving south toward Rome with no specific plans but a vague notion that we will stop in Siena and San Gimignano (neither of which has been visited by Elena), find a place to sleep somewhere, and reach Rome by dinner time.

Multi-national mission: failed!

Well, it's now well past 10pm and I am still in Malaga, which means that I will not make it to country #4 within the same day. Hopefully I can still claim four countries in a 24-hour stretch. The flight keeps getting delayed more and more, now they are saying departure at 00:10, but I'll believe it when I see it. I still had one day of credit on the USB Internet key that I had purchased in Madrid, and I have been putting it to good use: I called the rental car agency to postpone my pick-up time, I canceled one hotel, reserved another, called a couple of people, and spent a good chunk of time chatting on line with a great friend from Berlin. How did we do it before the days of connectivity???

I am now in Milano, the day after. We did not leave until 12:45am, and by the time I found a shuttle bus to the hotel, I got to sleep after 3:30am. Still, country #4 within 24 hours. I got up around 7:45 to get the rental car and go pick up Elena at the other Milan airport. We then made it to my aunt's house, were the Italian-style overeating has begun in earnest. Also, my aunt dug up some very old B&W pics of my mom's family, pretty amazing! My mom is on the left, my grandmother in the middle.

One day, four countries?

When I got up this morning (country #1) the weather looked threatening. In fact, the moment I got on the ferry it started to rain, and pretty soon it became a downpour. I stayed on deck under a cover that looked like a waterfall each time the high-speed ferry listed to one side or the other. It was sad to see Tangier fade away behind the wake of the ferry! It's been a great and memorable trip.

I arrived in Tarifa, Spain (#2), around 11am local time, and it was pouring. The bus to Algeciras was a bit disconcerting as the front windshield was fogged up, and the driver kept having to wipe it with a rag. On the way we drove through some green (and grey) hills and I saw several bulls and patches of cork trees. Ferdinand, anyone? When we arrived at the terminal in Algeciras I was told the bus terminal for Malaga was some quarter mile away, and it was pouring absolute buckets. I spotted a rental car counter and found out that for a mere 56EUR I could rent a car and drop it off at the Malaga airport. Since I had time and was curious to see Gibraltar, I went for the car.

The drive to Gibraltar is not long, but the rain was amazing and it got foggy. When I got close to the Gibraltar border I could see the famous rock... or at least the bottom of it. Can you see it through my rainy car window in the picture? I crossed the border (#3), drove around for a bit, grabbed some food at a grocery store, then drove back to Spain and hit the highway toward Malaga. There is a newer interstate highway and an older highway that is often interrupted by rotaries. I took the latter since I had a lot of time, and since it passed along the famed "Costa del Sol." Except there was no trace of any Sol today, just unbelievable pouring rain and fog. I made a quick pit stop at a place called George's bar somewhere around Marbella, had an espresso, exchanged a few words with the bartender and with an interesting older English gentleman, undoubtedly there for the winter (I couldn't tell you because shortly after sitting next to me at the bar he proceeded to start playing a small electronic slot machine and ignored me). Everybody spoke English which was a bit weird.

I got to the airport about 3 hours before my flight to Milano, which given the size of the line was probably not a bad thing. The picture I included here is after I made it more than half way down the line. Took about 45 minutes. My love-hate relationship with low-cost airlines is rekindled. And of course because of the massive weather issues in Europe (it snowed in Rome!), I was told at check-in that the flight was already scheduled to leave 90 minutes late. So, will I get to the fourth country tonight? More importantly, will I get there early enough to pick up my rental car? The office closes at midnight, and if the current delay sticks, I will arrive around 11:20. It would suck if I missed the car rental, as I would have to stay near the airport and go back tomorrow, and I have pre-paid a hotel room in the city...

Last tango in Tangier

Well, my frugality mission failed. I realized mid-afternoon that I was not going to make it without water (and even I have decided to pass on the tap water), so I had to spend 6 of my 8Dhr on a bottle that would last me through tonight. Then I remembered that I had really wanted to eat some fish while here, given we are right on the Med. So I splurged: I had two 2-Euro coins that I exchanged for a whopping 40Dhr. During my meanderings through the Medina I had seen a really scary looking place (not exactly tourist material) that had a couple of large metal bowls filled with various types of fried fish (but Mediterranean style - no batter, just lightly flowered). So I found my way back with cash in hand and walked in. I think they were surprised to have a non-Moroccan client and appreciated my bumbling efforts to explain what I wanted in Arabic. Luckily they spoke some Spanish.

I got a substantial serving of a couple different types of fried fish (sardines and probably anchovies, but all fresh, not the canned or salted kind), a big piece of bread and a smaller bowl with a tomato-based sauce (looked like salsa but not really spicy) and a bottle of Fanta. The fish was actually cold as it was sitting in the metal bowls on the counter for a while, but this seemed to be the norm, so I dug in... literally, because there is no silverware and I just used my hands. Specifically, my right hand so as not to upset the locals. Total cost: 25Dhr. Quality of food: very high.

After the fish dinner I got a couple of tangerines and then some of the delicious honey pastries I had discovered back in Fez. Yum. I decided at the last minute to really splurge, and I charged just under $15 to my credit card to buy a kilo of mixed pastries to take to my aunt's house on Sunday when I get there.

One more thing: in the afternoon I visited the "American Legation," essentially a museum that used to be the original Ambassadorial Residence (see earlier post). Amazing! I took pictures of an original letter by George Washington dated 12/1/1789 (I had been told no photos inside except for the garden area, but I could not resist and snuck a few). The building itself was beautiful, and the materials inside truly amazing.

So, this is it. Last post from Morocco. Tomorrow I take a ferry from Tangier to Tarifa, then a 25-min shuttle bus to Algeciras. From there a bus to Marbella, and then I should be able to spend a couple of hours in Marbella before boarding another bus to the Malaga airport, whence I take off for Milano at 7:30pm.

Loving Tangier

I must say I am impressed with Tangier. It is a lively city, the Medina is sufficiently large to be interesting but not large enough to be overwhelming, the influence of the Mediterranean is visible in the bright colors, and as a major port there seems to be more ethnic variety. Suffice it to say that this morning alone I have taken more than 150 pictures, even though it is cloudy and the colors don't come out as brilliant.

The Medina I found particularly nice. Not as large as Fez, not as "commercial" as Marrakech, not as small and regular as Rabat, and plenty of alleys in which to get lost without being really lost, only to discover sinewy streets, brilliant buildings, dazzling doors, awesome arches, magnificent mosques and pleasant people.

It's also been fun taking pictures of a variety of signs, some funny because of the Arabic spelling of foreign words, other just interesting in and of themselves. Coke and Pepsi duke it out even here, while Sprite and Fanta look on.
Meanwhile, I am trying to be extremely frugal in my last day and a half. I used up most of my remaining Dirhams yesterday during my last couple of hours in Fez picking up a few small souvenirs, and arrived in Fez with some 70Dhr. The cab ride from the station cost me 30Dhr. Last night I had various things to eat from the street for about 20Dhr (including 10Dhr for the snails), and today I had a cheese sandwich, a glass of Kefir, a Moroccan honey crepe, and a mint tea, all for 14Dhr, which leaves me with 8Dhr. Cooked garbanzo beans, bread and perhaps some olives should be within my budget. For now I am taking an afternoon break to recharge batteries -- the camera batteries, that is. This morning I investigated the Ferry situation for tomorrow, which should be very easy. Hard to believe my Morocco adventure is almost over!

The culture shock of going from Fez to Tangier

After a nice morning cruising the Fez Medina, I caught a 1pm train to Tangier, and arrived around 6pm. Of course I spent at least 30 minutes walking around town because the hotel I had called did not have WiFi even though on the phone they said they did. Hey, I wouldn't want to miss blogging opportunities. Actually I had wanted to make a call with Skype but no longer need to do it -- though it's good nonetheless to keep up with email from y'all out there.

Tangier is radically different from Fez and Marrakech, and while it is more similar to Rabat it definitely has more edge to it. The new part of town is cool, very European in style, both in terms of the streets and of the people. It is hard to imagine the same people inhabiting the Fez Medina and Tangier. I have only criss-crossed parts of the Medina and the Kasbah, but here too the differences are noticeable. Luckily I was still able to find my favorite dish, the snails and snail broth.

People here look very different, not so much in terms of appearance, but in how they dress and how they carry themselves. Around the Nouvelle Ville (which is also much more tightly connected to the Medina than either Marrakceh or Fez) people wear normal clothes, very few women wear traditional Moroccan clothes, let alone Burqas. There are restaurants and bars of the type you would see in a typical European city, prices are higher (though still cheaper than Europe), alcohol seems to be readily available, and with the Spanish influence, the city seems to be lively into the night.

So far I have only seen it in the dark, but I look forward to some exploration (and picture-taking) tomorrow. By the way, I learned that Morocco was the first country to recognize the sovereignty of the United States, and in 1777 the first American Ambassadorial residence was established here.

The highs and lows of Fez and Sefrou

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending the day with Loriane, a young French woman I had just met who was at the tail end of her vacation, and who has previously done some social work in Morocco. She had suggested visiting a small town outside Fez called Sefrou, nestled at the foot of some beautiful hills.

Sefrou was quite a dramatic change from being in cities, which is all I have done so far. The place was spectacular, it reminds me of certain parts of the southwest, with red rocks and deep valleys. Except here you see ancient Moroccan villages nestled on top of hills, and the town at the bottom of the hill has a Medina that is older than Fez itself. There is a small waterfall on the outskirts of town, and after seeing the waterfall we hiked up to the top of some tall, very rocky hills. We have a gorgeous view from up high (will post more pics on Facebook).

After the hike we went back down into the town (grabbing sandwiches along the way), checked out the Medina and some of the newer parts of town, and headed back. For transportation we took a "Grand Taxi," an older Mercedes in which they stuff six passengers: two on top of each other in the front bucket seat, four squished like sardines in the back.

The grand taxi drops you off at a fixed location, which happened to be on the edge of the Fez "Ville Nouvelle" (i.e., the new part of town). We walked by a McDonalds and I couldn't resist taking a picture of our friend Ron sitting on a bench. As we went geographically from high to low, I think we did the same culturally. We capped off the day with a walk around the Medina, some cheap food on the streets, and a nice look over the Medina at night.

Spending the day with a French-speaking person made me realize the importance of communication. My French is good enough to get by in most day-to-day situations (and it has gotten noticeably better since I arrived), but it is an entirely different thing trying to have a whole day worth of conversations. Loriane speaks a bit of English and a few words of Italian, but French was the language de rigeur. I have to say I found it very tiring: sometimes I wanted to blurt out entire long sentences or engage in interesting discussions, but I constantly had to pause to think of words or ask for how to say certain things. Nonetheless, it was a great day and I really enjoyed getting to spend some time in great company. But I do look forward to the predominantly Spanish-speaking population of Tangiers, and of course back to my native Italy!

The many faces of Fez

There is a side of me that wishes I had a pedometer to see how many miles I have clocked, but it's been lots. I have walked the Medina end-to-end several times, though I still feel like I am just scratching the surface. Yesterday I began to venture off the main paths, which of course means getting lost. Then again getting lost is more relevant if you are trying to get somewhere, which I was not.

I also went deeper into three other parts of the western end of the Fez Medina: Moulay Abdullah, Fes el Djedid and the Mellah. It is fascinating to see how different these parts are from one another. Once again I found the Mellah to be more cramped but also less touristy and more fascinating. I stopped at a sort of sandwich window and gestured toward some odd-looking orange fried dumplings. The asked me something in Arabic to which I said yes, which apparently meant "do you want the eggs with that?" So I watched as the cracked a couple eggs on the griddle, threw a couple of dumplings on it, mixed it all up, and threw it in a sub-style piece of bread with hot sauce, olives and some sort of oil. Yum!

A totally different face is that of the Royal family. The King has, I believe, at least five palaces (in Fez, Marrakech, Ifran, Rabat and Meknes). Each is an enormous, walled-in piece of land that is off-limits to mere mortals. You can recognize these palaces (other than the obvious fact that they are closed off and guarded) by the lavish doorways. The three photos below were taken within a quarter-mile radius.



Yesterday I also saw the Medina at night, when they block off a large portion for security. I had been warned by my hosts that it is not easy to get back from the other side of the Medina when they block it off, but I thought I'd give it a try. It was like being in a maze, with all the stores shuttered, and some of the normal paths closed off. I had to ask a few times but (obviously) I did make it home safe and sound...

The great Fez

I had made a post last night after going on a couple of long walks, but the post seems to have been eaten by gremlins, so here I am again. Fez is very different from Marrakech. The Medina is amazing, much bigger and twisted than the one in Marrakech. Between last night and today I probably clocked a total of some ten hours of walking (and those who know me know I can cover a lot of ground in ten hours) and so far I have stayed primarily on the main "thoroughfares." On the down side (depending on your viewpoint), there is no night life, no main square where people got to hang out. Which is why at 10pm I am in my room doing my blog instead of being out and about.

The Medina allegedly holds some 400,000 dwellers. There are times when it feels as though they are all out walking down the same twisting alleys as me. My streak of not eating in restaurants continues, as I have had nothing but street food since after my first night in Marrakech, when I had dinner at my Riad. I have expanded my repertoire, today venturing to include a sort of pita-like sandwich with some chopped chicken, onions, herbs and a spicy salsa-like substance, cooked on a sort of griddle. I also had a cup of "buttermilk," as well as my usual bowl of snails and a yummy pastry.

I have been reluctant to take pictures of places with people and day-to-day things -- it seems so intrusive and paparazzi-like -- but today I took some pictures in a food market, which included interesting items like a camel head (I did not take pictures of other gruesome things, such as, what the lungs of a sheep look like when they are still attached to the inside of the rib cage, but nothing else is). And speaking of animals, interestingly today two or three different men approached me, not for the usual questions of whether I wanted a guide, or a tour of their store, or a good restaurant, but rather whether I wanted a "good massage with a woman." Needless to say, I declined.

Late in the afternoon I made my way up to a hill overlooking the entire Medina. There are some ruins that are a favorite spot for sunset (and sunrise) viewings, but also a five-star hotel with a grandiose terrace. I splurged and got a drink so I could sit down and enjoy the view -- a whopping 70Dh for a mediocre Gin and Tonic. Dinner was less than 20Dh.

Overall it was a great day. Lots of sight-seeing, including a few really cool buildings (two Medrassas were particularly fascinating), lots and lots of Minarets, souks, food stalls, and of course Babs (doorways, as in, to get into the Medina walls). The tanneries were just as interesting (and smelly) as the guidebook suggested. Looking forward to another day of exploration tomorrow.

Rabat to Fez

This morning I woke up at 6:30 (slept very well) and after a quick sink rinse I ran off on another long walk. I wanted to hit the Kasbah again in the daylight and check out the coast. Pretty awesome place, though it was cloudy so the pictures don't do it justice. Several things were very cool. First, the setting itself is pretty spectacular, with the Kasbah nestled (more like encrusted) on top of a bluff, with a river on one side and the Atlantic on the other. Inside the Kasbah the houses with their blue and white paint are very cool, reminiscent of other Mediterranean islands and coastal towns. The view from the top is great.

And while I was meandering toward the Kasbah I was passed by a dude running... with a surfboard. So I figured there had to be a surfing beach, which sure enough was off the far side of the Kasbah. They even have a surfing school by the side of the lighthouse. Will post on Facebook. I also walked down to the beach, which is very flat and at low tide local youth take advantage of the smooth sand to mark off small football (the "real" football) fields and play barefoot. Once the sand is all messed up they make a new field in the next patch over and start again. In the photo you can see the Kasbah walls in the background.

 
Since I had gotten such an early start I decided to catch an earlier train than planned, around Noon. I arrived in Fez around 3:00pm, and now I understand why a couple of people told me that the Medina there is more "authentic" than the one in Marrakech. OMG! The place is enormous. Apparently some 400,000 people live there, and it is one enormous maze. Also, unlike Marrakech, the Fez Medina is set on very hilly terrain. I walked around for 2-3 hours and grabbed some cheap eats: first some sort of yogurt from a cart for 2Dh, then an egg and potato sandwich and some snails (really liking them escargot) for 10Dh, and then splurged on another 10Dh of these incredible pastries: it's a dense pastry drenched in honey and covered with sesame seeds. Actually for that amount of money I got enough pastries for 4-5 people, I still have some in a bag.

And last but not least: I can see why the Riad where I am staying (Dar Melody) is ranked #1 on Trip Advisor. Holy cow, what a beautiful place! The owners came to pick me up at the station, and presented me with fresh strawberries and orange juice when we got to the house. A drastic change from last night!

Rabat inexpensive food and getting lost in the Medina

I just got back from a long walk - 4+ hours. I decided that even though I haven't been there in daylight, the Rabat Medina seemed sufficiently small that getting lost wouldn't be a big deal, and I wanted to sample some of the inexpensive street food that I so enjoyed in Marrakech. But first I wanted to walk through the Medina and up to the Kasbah. I don't know how it will look in the day, but at night it's spectacular. The Kasbah sits high on a hill, right were the river dumps out onto the Atlantic. I found my way through the Medina all the way to the far side near the Kasbah entrance, and after entering through one of the impressive arched doors I managed to find my way to the far corner, where a sort of wide dirt terrace overlooks lower ramparts as well as the estuary of the Oued Bou Regreg (the local river). It was dark and a bit hazy, but it was cool to look out on the ocean knowing that Boston is on the other side. Actually directly across is North Carolina, but you know what I mean.

I then dove back down into the Medina from a different corner and navigated my way to various food carts and stalls. I started with snails again: this one instead of offering a bowl of clean toothpicks had straightened out several safety pins and stuck them into a lemon for everyone to share, so you could pull one out already basically disinfected - 5Dh. Then I had a paper cone full of steamed and salted garbanzo beans - 1Dh.

For the main course I went for something that I had seen but not tried yet: they put an entire boiled cow head on a cart, and they take a piece of bread cut in half and stuff it with bits of meat shaved off the head. Sprinkled with salt and paprika and accompanied by a glass of mint tea, a tasty and nutritious meal for just 12Dh. And for dessert I had two prickly pears, which are very common around here this time of year: they carry a bunch on a cart (already de-prickled), and the guy picks one up and with three swift cuts peels it and unrolls it onto your hand. All that for 5Dh.

So, with 23 fewer Drhams and a nicely full tummy, I started to meander around. I got a bit carried away by venturing off the main paths, and after about an hour I realized that as much as I wanted to believe that I knew the general direction of the exit (preferably on the "right" side of town), I really had no idea where I was. I did eventually find my way out, in a pretty different spot from where I started. I asked a cop to make sure I had the right general idea of my whereabouts (wasn't too far off), and, having gotten my bearings, I dove back in for another hour or so. And I did remember to buy a small towel along the way. Now I just have to brave the $13 hotel bed, which in terms of luxury is right up there with the snails and cow head.

PS: In case anyone from "Points North" reads this, let it be know that I am sorry to miss the next meeting :-)

Rabat on the cheap

Here I am in Rabat, home of Icosystem's friends at Digimind. I had scoped out a decent hotel but I decided for one night by myself I did not need to spend $70. So I walked around until I found a place with WiFi (only in the lobby, but hey...) for a whopping $13 or so depending on the exchange rate. Shared bathroom, which means I'll be holding it until I get to my place in Fez late tomorrow :-).

I had read in my guidebook about a place called Chella, described as old ruins on the outskirts of town. I had less than 2 hours of daylight so I figured I'd head out there, about a 20-min walk. Along the way I snapped a few shots of the Cathedral (surprising to find one here).

Chella was amazing. The ruins themselves were fascinating, but what was unbelievable is that it is set essentially on a lush, verdant hill just outside the city walls, and it happens to be the nesting grounds for egrets and storks. There were thousands of birds all over the place, making strange sounds, flying around, messing around on tree branches... never seen anything like it. I took several pictures and even some movies, I will have to see how they turn out.

Time to head off to the Medina to look for food and a few basics, like a bottle of water and a cheap towel, because there is a sink but $13 won't get you a towel even in Morocco.

Whence tomorrow?

I hadn't really been thinking too hard about where to go tomorrow, as it made my head hurt. South through the high Atlas and toward Ouarzazate and maybe Zagoura and the desert? West toward the Atlantic coast and Essaouira? North to Casablanca? Or to Fez and Meknes as originally planned? And if to Fez, Taxi rental to take the road along the Atlas? Or Bus or train along the longer road through Casablanca and Rabat? Decisions, decisions. In the end I decided that I really want to go to Fez next, but instead of spending the entire day getting there (7 hours by train or 9 hours by bus), I will take a late morning train to Rabat and spend the night there in a modest but decent hotel. Rabat has a large modern area, but apparently also a nice, approachable Medina and a Kasbah. That's about a 3.5 hour train ride, and then on Sunday late in the day I will catch a train to Fez.

Currently my thinking is to stay in Fez for four nights, and take one day trip to Meknes. The Fez Medina is larger and apparently not as commercialized as the one in Marrakech. In the 2.5 days that I have been here I feel like I have "done" Marrakech, so the extra day in Fez should be good.

Time for bed, unless I decided to write one more post. Oh, at least I need to upload some pics to Facebook...

Day 3 in Marrakech

Today I went on a really, really long walk - even by my standards. Essentially I walked non-stop from about 10:45am until 6pm. My lower back is getting a bit sore from all the walking! But I have seen some great sights, including some of the typical tourist monuments in the southern part of the Medina, such as the Saadian Tombs, the El Badi Palace, and the Bahia Palace.

My two favorite parts were the Mellah and an industrial/artisanal area that I found accidentally. I also really liked the Photography Museum, which had been suggested by my hosts.

The Mellah is the old Jewish quarter, which dates back to the mid-16th century. Today there are very few remaining Jewish families (most have moved to Casablanca, France or Israel), and a single Synagogue, which you would never know was there unless you read about it in a guide (as I did). I thought the Mellah had a lot more character than the northern part of the Medina: much less touristy, and with much more evidence of everyday life.

Later, as I explored a portion of the Medina that I had not yet seen, I found myself going along a road flanked on both sides by walls. On the right, the wall was essentially continuous, while on the left there were occasional gates, each leading to courtyards onto which opened a variety of artisan's shops. Not the kind for tourists, literally the folks who make the things that eventually make their way to the markets and shops. Judging by the looks I was getting, not many tourists venture in there. I saw people doing furniture, doors, textiles, various metal items, and many other crazy things. Very cool.

Another interesting experience: at the very southern end of the Medina lies the Royal Palace, which is completely walled off with its entrance on the far side, facing an enormous plaza / boulevard, which is surrounded by walls and ornate arches leading off in various directions. At one point I was standing some 100yards from one of the arches, which to me looked like another arch but it turns out to be the entrance to the courtyard that leads into the Royal Palace. As I pointed my camera in that direction, one of a group of secret-service looking dudes started yelling at me and then charged in my direction. There was also a small group of tourists near me and he yelled at both of us. Once he reached us he made me show my most recent pictures to ensure that we had not taken any pictures of them or of the palace. Wild.

Before getting back to my Riad I stopped at the Photography Museum, which, in addition to some very cool photographs (mostly B&W from old time Morocco), also has a terrace that gave me a spectacular view of the city at dusk.

I capped off the evening with what has become a customary stroll around the Jmaa El Fna square, with its crazy performers and its rows of food stalls. I had a three-part meal consisting of the same "Escargot soup" that I had last night (10Dhram), then set at a stall where I had lentils and Lemon Chicken cooked in a Tajin (20Dh) and finally had another one of those chocolaty desserts I had the night before with the ginger tea (5Dh). Total cost of a rather filling dinner: 35Dh = about $3.5.

The two faces of Marrakech

Last night I had the pleasure of meeting Farid, the husband of the step-daughter of a friend. Farid's father is from Morocco, but Farid himself grew up primarily in London, and moved back to Marrakech as an adult about three years ago. He was kind enough to show me around Gueliz, the "new" part of Marrakech. After meeting and chatting at a really nice bar/restaurant called La Renaissance, we walked a ways to a restaurant / club called Mai Tai, where we were joined by Farid's friend Nadia (hopefully spelled properly).

The contrast with the day spent cruising the Medina was striking: opulence very much in line with what you would see in high-class places in London, Paris or pretty much any other major city in the world. Farid and I had many interesting conversations about some of the social/cultural inconsistencies, and how Morocco has advanced in some ways, but is still very much a third-world country in other ways.

If I remember correctly (the evening's memories were slightly blurred by a curtain of alcohol - another difference from the more traditional Medina), there are some seven different hotels in Marrakech that fall in the "Palace" category, which is above five stars. The most expensive has suites that go for $20,000/night, as much as it takes to buy a nice place in the Medina for a typical Moroccan.

On the other hand, living in Boston I can step over a homeless person literally on my front steps, and within a five-minute walk I will be walking by the Mandarin Oriental on Boylston, gawking at the Ferraris and Bentleys parked out front...

Multi-sensory Marrakech

Long walk today, taking a nice break to check e-mail and update the blog. It is really hard to describe this city with words and pictures: smells and sounds are just as important and an integral part of the experience. Things are quiet at night (at least where I am), except for the 5am call to prayer from the Minaret that overlooks my Riad. The owner was not kidding about how loud - and how cacophonous - the experience really is.


But once you step outside, especially during the afternoon and evening, there is noise everywhere. People, mopeds, animals, cars, ... an amazing accompaniment that complements the visual barrage. And the smells are also amazing, mostly the smoke from mopeds and from stands cooking food, sometimes also incense, perfumes, and other sources of many types of odors.

Photos will also not do justice to the chaos and poverty that is all around. I tend not to take pictures in the most "natural" places as it feels a bit awkward, but it is truly amazing.

And finally, there is a flow to it all that could never be captured with pictures, or even with movies. As you waled around these winding, narrow alleys, you are constantly dodging people, mopeds (often burdened with multiple passengers), cars, as well as carts of various sizes powered by humans or animals.

Marrakech!

On the flight to Marrakech I got a great view of Gibraltar and the rock. Very odd looking! Definitely thinking about going through there on the way back. The landing was rough as it was really windy, but the temperature was quite nice, certainly more so than Paris. The forecast calls for 28 degrees (Celsius - that's a whopping 82F) in the next few days.

On first look, Marrakesh appeared as less "foreign" then Cairo. I thought perhaps it had to do with the fact that this is my second Muslim/North African country, but then as I walked around the Medina I decided it is definitely more "tame." For one thing it seems to have a lot more tourists, at least around the Medina. But also I noticed that the locals, while still pushy about finding ways to help you (so they can get money from you) or drag you into their stores (so they can sell you things), are not nearly as pushy as the Egyptians. Then again there was one guy who not only got verbally pushy, but when I said "no" firmly for the third time, he actually gave me a parting shove. No big deal, he looked like he was missing some screws, and I think if any other locals had seen him do that they would have been all over him.

I'd brushed up just a bit on my Arabic alphabet, and now I amuse myself going reading signs. The good thing is that everything here is written in both Arabic and Roman characters, which makes it much easier than it was in Egypt to see if I got the letters right.

The Medina is wild: tons of people, especially later in the day, with mopeds zipping down these tiny congested pedestrian lanes. The Souks (markets) are crazy, it's like a labyrinth of alleys where every single square inch of wall is a store of some sort. I did a ton of walking today, mostly random. I will try to be more methodical tomorrow.

Concentric reunion

Last night I had the pleasure of having dinner with Arnaud and Nadine from Havas, but also with my friends/colleagues Dejan and Andrey. It was fun being in Europe together like in the good old times when we were starting the projects that eventually became Concentric. Now Andrey has his own software development company in Bulgaria (we are his main client), and Dejan just switched to the position of CTO of Concentric. We went our for a (very expensive) drink at the Meridien. I got to bed well after midnight and had to get up at 5am to catch the shuttle bus to the Paris-Beauvais airport, but it was worth it! The only thing we missed was the opportunity to do some shopping.

Vacation!!!

Today I gave my talk at the IREP conference, so now I am officially done and on vacation. The talk was well received, I think. I was one of a handful of English-speaking presenters, but I think after my 30-second introduction in my broken French, people were probably happy I spoke English. I find it particularly hard after being 100% immersed in Spanish to switch over, and my French was never that good.

The weather continues to suck. Today it snowed for a while, and when it wasn't snowing it was drizzly and right around freezing. I got a couple of hours of work done after the conference and then joined Arnaud and Nadine from Havas, as well as Andrey and Dejan from Icosystem. Well, not really: Andrey has his own company and consults for us, Dejan is officially CTO of Concentric as of 12/1/10. It is really cool getting together with them again.

My bus leaves at 6am tomorrow morning -- early rise. Better hit the sack. Hopefully I will sleep better than I did last night. My next entry should be from Marrakech, where at least the temperature will be warmer... Adieu, Paris!

Paris - at last?

It took much longer to get to Paris than I had anticipated: my flight was two hours late. And when I made it to my hotel (the Hotel Concorde La Fayette), I found myself in a room that reeked of smoke and wireless internet not functioning (gasp)! So I asked to change rooms, and in the process was told that wireless does not work, but that I should use the free wired internet.

Well, I have been waiting for mail to go out, and I want to rip my hair out it is sooooo slow! What the heck? I mean, this is a nice hotel attached to the Paris Convention Center, and they can't do Internet properly?

At least in my new room I have a view of the Eiffel tower...

My love-hate relationship with European low-cost airllines

Lucky for me the situation at the Madrid airport has stabilized after two days of canceled flights because of an air traffic controller strike. Still, not happy with the frustration of "low-cost" airlines. I had pre-paid for two checked-in bags (hey, five weeks with a mixture of business and travel on two continents warrants more than carry-on luggage). But read the fine print: total allowed weight for one bag: 20Kg. Pay extra for a second bag, and the allowed weight for BOTH bags combined is still only 20Kg. Mine combined to 25Kg, which set me back an additional 60EUR (UPS, FedEx and the Post Office are all significantly cheaper).

Also, a few days pre-travel they send you an e-mail pointing out that you MUST print your boarding pass before getting to the airport. If you do it at the airport? 40EUR.

Now, I understand that they want to minimize costs, but then why the hell are the lines so long and slow even for people who only have to drop off bags that were checked in online? And since the personnel seems to have to do essentially exactly the same amount of work (check passport, weight bags, print boarding pass and luggage tags), it is hard to justify the charges. Oh well. On the bright side, because the basic ticket is so cheap, I decided to buy two different tickets to fly back form Morocco, to have the option of deciding at the last minute.

Civilized Spanish eating habits

It's 10:04pm, we just got back from the grocery store and are getting ready for dinner. A "light" dinner consisting of several kinds of cheese, marinated anchovies (the fresh kind - yum), olives, octopus, salad, bread, ... all to be drowned with a few glasses of good wine. This is the normal dinner time. Then again we started lunch after 2:30, so it makes sense. Being here always reminds me of how much I enjoy the ritual of eating, something that is nearly inexistant back in the states. Then again I will probably put on 10 pounds before I get back. But I will be at peace with myself.

Today it's been rainy but this morning Edu and I went to see a the National Sculptures Museum. The highlight might have been this ancient creche from Naples, it was about 50 feet long, the photo you see here was just one small deatil. We then walked around in the downtown area, saw dozens of Storks sitting on top of the roof of the main cathedral. Tomorrow at Noon it's off to Madrid, then flying to Paris in the evening. Can't wait till I board that flight to Marrakech on Wednesday!

Salamanca

Today Edu, Cris and I drove to Salamanca. The city itself is not that nice except for the downtown area, which includes two beautiful cathedrals, several old buildings, and a typical Plaza Mayor. The weather was decent but cold (right around freezing), which gave us extra motivation to go in and out of shops and buildings. We also visited the tower of one of the cathedrals (the "new" cathedral, which was started in the mid 1500s).

One interesting tourist attraction is the facade of an old church that has many carvings, including a skull with a frog on it. For some reason the symbolism of the frog on the skull has acquired great significance, and all souvenir stores (of which there are tons) have a lot of items involving frogs. I will at some point try to load several pics on flickr and link them here, but for now I am including a couple here.

Valladolid

I nearly missed my train from Madrid, but thanks to the creative driving skills of my taxi driver I just made it and got to Valladolid as planned around 3pm Friday. There was a fair amount of snow along the way and the temperature has been hovering around freezing. Last night (Friday) we went to the downtown area and crawled our way through various tapas places, finally meandering home around 11. It's been wonderful catching up with Eduardo and Cristina and their children Daniel and Pablo.

Visual summary of my presentation

During the conference we had the pleasure of having the participation of Harriet Harriss, a London-based visual facilitator who helps to visualize the conversations taking place in real time. Harriet did an amazing job of capturing the content of all the presentations. The picture above is her summary of my contribution. If you are looking for a visual facilitator you should check out her web site.

Work day

Today was the main day of the XV FTF meeting. Lots of interesting presentations, including yours truly. Neil Gershenfeld has great insights, I am surprised he rose to the bait set by Adrian Wooldridge (whose diatribe was actually quite funny). Good quality talks all around. A bit odd being on a panel with two other speakes: the CEO of Vodafone Holland and the President of Qualcomm Internet Services. Also had a great chat with Gordon Feller of Cisco, and numerous other people. Dinner of stand-up tapas and drinks. No coffee tonight, let's see if I can sleep this time...

Small world

At the FTF reception/banquet last night I was surprised when the main organizer expressed his gratitude for the presence of the Ambassador of the United States, Alan Solomont and his wife Susan -- whom I have known for a couple of years (since before Alan was named Ambassador). I had completely forgotten that they were in Madrid, and had no clue they'd be here. It was fun going up to Susan and surprising her totally out of context...

92€ lunch at the Ritz

I thought I'd do myself a favor and save time by eating lunch downstairs. Wonderful place but charging 92€ to my room made me a bit sick. The irony is that I passed on the "Prix Fixe" menu, which for 60€ included appetizer, two full-sized courses, dessert and water/coffee, opting instead for a half-size appetizer, half-size entree and dessert. 10€ for water and 20€ for flan didn't help.

Last night I had a tummy full of tapas and two small beers for 11€...

No jet-lag and lots of work

Two things I have found about traveling to Europe: (1) I start working early, but then with the US office coming alive midday, I tend to work into the late evening. Last night was no exception as I was online until almost 11pm dealing with work stuff. (2) If I do manage to stay up until at least 11 the first night without sleeping during the day, usually my clock resets without jet-lag. Sure enough, I crashed a bit after 11 and slept like a rock until almost 9am! Fresh as a rose, after walking around for fresh air and breakfast, I got back to my computer a couple of hours ago...